Here I will post the guide to assemble a CPU, this is useful for newbie who want to learn how to assemble a CPU from scratch

The hardware that I will be using

Casing: Corsair Carbide 400R
Motherboard: Gigabyte P67A-UD3
Processor: Intel Core i5 2400
Graphic Card: Leadtek GTX 560 Ti
Optical Drive: Samsung SATA DVD-RW
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB SATA



PRECAUTION: Remember to ground yourself and make sure your hand are dry before touching the circuit board, always let your motherboard and graphic card sit on or inside the anti static bag that come with it, this is to protect the circuit board from expose to static which can potentially damage the hardware component.

Let's begin to assemble the CPU
1. Open up both side of the casing side panel and lie down the casing with it's right side panel facing upward (refer to picture below)


2. Now we will start to install the hardware 1 by 1, first, we will start with the motherboard. We start with motherboard first because it is located at the most bottom of the case (while the case is in horizontal position) and also to avoid the other hardware blocking the motherboard later on

There is a way to hold the motherboard, do not carry the motherboard with your bare hand touch the circuit board, hold the PCI slot or the back panel slot instead, don't worry about tearing them off, they are tough but make sure you use brute force too. Try to avoid contact with the circuit board and always let the motherboard sit on top of the anti static plastic that come with it (refer to picture below)



3. The next thing we will be doing is to install the processor, do not install the heatsink first, unpack the processor and take it out with caution, do not drop it or touch the gold pins even though it look attractive. You will need to open up the socket cover on the motherboard, remove the socket protector and you can install the processor, while installing a processor, there is only one way slot-in, so if you can't fit your processor in the socket, most likely you get the wrong processor that is not compatible with your motherboard or you are installing it in the wrong position, do not try to use brute force to slot it in, you might end up damage the processor and the motherboard

picture of the processor slotted in with the bracket unlock

4. Lock the processor bracket, refer to the user manual that come with the processor or motherboard as different socket has different way to do it

5. After install the processor, we can start putting the motherboard into the casing, remember the way to carry the motherboard, try to avoid contact on the circuit board with your hand, hold the pci slot instead (refer to the earlier picture above). Identify the screw position on both casing and motherboard, then carefully align the motherboard the hole together, be careful not to scratch the motherboard

6. After the alignment is complete then put the screw in place with a correct size screw driver, note that you don't need to screw it too tight. After the screw in place, then we will install the processor heatsink, OEM heatsink come with thermal paste applied, for doing this tutorial, i wipe off the thermal paste and reapply it.


7. Apply the thermal paste at the center of the heatsink, do not apply all over the heatsink surface and do not apply too much else it will overflow, refer to the picture below on how much thermal paste you should apply

I feel like I've applied a bit too much here, a little lesser is acceptable too, but not more than what I put.
You only need to apply the thermal paste on the heatsink, not on the processor or both heatsink and processor, JUST THE HEATSINK is sufficient

8. Install the heatsink on top of the processor, refer to the processor manual on how to install the processor as different heatsink might have a different to do so, you might need to lift up your casing to a standing position to install the back bracket at the back of the motherboard for some heatsink

after done, it should look like this, the heatsink should sit on top of the processor and there will be no movement when you touch the heatsink


9. Install the RAM. Remember, avoid contact with circuit board, hold it like what I did in the picture below

Open up the RAM lock to an unlock position, then sit your RAM on the RAM slot and read the next step

10. It is very hard for you to push down the RAM, to make it easier, you can do it this way. Push one side of the RAM down and secure it with the lock, then push the other side down and secure the other side with the lock, refer to the picture below

You need to apply firm and straight downward pressure and not to slip your hand as you might damage the RAM

11. Install the graphic card (GPU), take out the GPU and see how many PCI bracket it will take, high end graphic card can use up to 2 to 3 PCI bracket of the casing. Remove the PCI bracket at the back of the casing (recommend to remove only the slot you want to use), then carefully install the card on the PCI-slot, it is important not to apply brute force or you will break the gold pin, apply firm, striaght and gentle pressure on the card. After done, it should look like this
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-FUEdLxyu...00/IMG_0399.JPG

12. Next would be install the power supply unit (PSU), in this tutorial I will use non-modular unit that come with chunk of cables, the casing I used has the PSU positioned at the bottom to give better center of gravity, while come casing and older casing has the PSU positioned at the top, however the way to installing it is the same. Place your PSU to the corresponding slot, align the screw hole so with the hole at the casing, then insert and tighten the screw from outside of the casing.
Picture below is the PSU that I have installed, with tons of cables laying around like an octopus
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-6TK5x7SL...00/IMG_0402.JPG

13. Cable management. If you are using larger casing, mid-tower casing or full-tower casing, try to route all the cables to the other side of the casing. Cable management not only make the casing look neat but also improve airflow inside the casing since there will be less cable "flying" inside the casing and blocking the airflow
Below is the picture of the casing after I've done the cable management
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Qg1PfhsX...00/IMG_0403.JPG
Look a lot better right? No more cables flying around except the power socket to North bridge

14. Install the optical drive. Before install the optical drive, the bracket that cover the driver slot has to be removed, different casing has different way of removing it, refer to the user manual if available. For the casing I used, i remove the bracket from inside the casing. After done removing the bracket, the optical drive should now be able to slot in. Some casing need to install the drive from inside the casing, while some are push in from the outside. After the drive sit at the right place, connect the data cables and power cables

15. Install the hard disk (HDD), same as the installation of optical drive. Most of the casing nowadays do no required user to screw the HDD, for older casing, align your HDD with the casing HDD slot then insert the screw with the correct size of screw driver, after that connect the power cable and data cable
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5y0sSuMM...00/IMG_0411.JPG

16. Connect the front panel, power button, reset button and USB port. All casing come with power switch and the reset switch, some come with the USB port, there is some tiny cables inside the casing that is attached to the casing, those are the cables that connect to the power switch, reset switch and USB port, it is used to connect to the bottom left corner of the motherboard. Locaiton vary differently on each motherboard, refer to the motherboard manual on which cables belong to which connector. After done it should look something like this
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-B62Ry4Ey...00/IMG_0396.JPG
sorry for the blur picture, my camera cannot take close up shots

until this part, the system should be ale to boot up if connect with the power plug

. Install the casing fan, I will brief through this part quickly as there is nothing much to explain. First we need to identify which side did the fan blow towards, and how we want to place the fan, after the planning is done, then start to screw the fan to secure it, then connect the power molex connector to the PSU molex connector

close the side panel of the casing on both side, connect to the power plug and you are ready to go

This post has been edited by amduser: Oct 10 2011, 07:10 PM